Unit Title: Working together to create a productive system
Unit Overview
DAY #1
Goals After reading the book as a
class, the students will
investigate words they heard
and comprehend what they
mean.
During the lesson, the
students will work together
to ask questions about the
story and gain a better
understanding of the key
details.
Objective While investigating the
nonfictional story of Sylvia
Mendes, the students will
learn new words that will
extend their understanding of
the student’s role in society.
After finishing the lesson,
the students will have
practiced how to ask
meaningful questions while
reading literature.
Standards 2.RL.1 Read and
comprehend a variety of
literature within a range of
complexity appropriate for
grades 2-3. By the end of
grade 2, students interact
with texts proficiently and
independently at the low end
of the range and with
scaffolding as needed at the
high end.
DAY #2
After the lesson, the students
will successfully identify the
characteristics of a
productive community
member who makes an
impact on society.
After the lesson, the students
will be able to identify
different rolls in a
community.
During the lesson, the
students will identify what it
means to be a responsible
citizen of their community.
2.1.3 Identify actions and
individuals who had a positive
impact on the local
community.
D4.7.K-2. Identify ways to take
action to help address local,
regional, and global problems.
People, Places, and
Name: Corinne Walker
DAY #3 DAY #4
After the lesson, the students After the lesson, students will
will be able to construct maps be able to name ways they can
to locate the hemispheres and reduce, reuse, and recycle.
the polls.
Following the lesson, the During this lesson students will
students will practice putting brainstorm solutions to reduce
continents in the correct waste and recycle recourses.
hemispheres.
During the lesson, the class will
use hands-on work to study
the location of the
hemispheres and the polls.
2.3.2 Locate the equator, the Env.2.7 Differentiate between
poles, continents, and renewable and nonrenewable
hemispheres on a world map resources and compare and
and on a globe; identify the contrast the pros and cons of
local community, city, Indiana, using nonrenewable resources.
the United States, and North
America on a world map and
on a globe.
D2.Geo.1.K-2. Construct maps,
Unit Title: Working together to create a productive system
2.RL.2.1 Ask and answer
questions (e.g., who was the
story about; why an event
happened; where the story
happened) to demonstrate
understanding of main idea
and key details in a text.
Materials Clip boards, picture printed out,
white board, dry erase marker,
book, dictionaries/iPads, and a
printed off picture from the
book Separate is Never Equal
(see lesson plan)
Management Students will be expected to
collaborate with the class
during the anticipatory set.
The carpet space will be utilized
during the reading of the book.
The students will be expected
to listen during the read aloud.
Students will collaborate during
the group activity time.
The students will be expected
to participate in the individual
activity. The front of the room
will be utilized during this
activity.
Environments
Paper for maps, large pieces of
paper, markers, iPads, paper with
scenarios, pencils, tape,
worksheets, and color pencils
Students will be at their desk for
the anticipatory set. The students
are expected to be creative and
make a map of their town.
The students will be rotating to
each wall in the classroom to
complete the poster activity. The
students will be expected to
collaborate with their peers and
watch each video that goes with
the posters.
The students will find one of the
pieces of paper that are scattered
across the classroom. Each
student will be expected to read
their scenario and write down
their answer on the paper.
The students will be at their desks
for the closure. They will be
Name: Corinne Walker
graphs, and other
representations of familiar
places.
Tape, puzzle pieces, crayons,
printed out maps, iPads/computers,
paper plates, paint, wet wipes,
tape, paper with words on them,
dry erase markers, and magnets
The entire room will be utilized
during the anticipatory set. The
students will move from one side of
the room to the other depending
on their answer to the question.
Student will be at their desks
following along to instructions by
the teacher for the lesson
presentation.
The students will move around the
room into five different groups.
They will be expected to collaborate
on the different hemispheres.
The students will be at their desk
during the individual activity. They
will be expected to following
instructions from the teacher.
The students will be expected to
Paper, water, water bins, window
screens, plastic plates, towels,
sponges, plastic water bottle,
reusable water bottle, cloth mask,
disposable mask, paper towel,
washrag, trash bins, recycling bins,
ball pit balls, tan tape, sharpies,
construction paper, scissors, glue
sticks, and stickers
Students will utilize the outer edges
of the classroom. They will. Be
expected to use the water
appropriately during the anticipatory
set. Each student will make one
piece of paper.
The students will be at their desks
listening to the first part of the
lesson presentation before moving
onto the next activity. The students
will participate in class discussion
time and collaborate with their
peers.
The students will go outside (if the
weather allows it) and follow
directions from the teacher. The
students will be expected to use the
balls appropriately and try their best
not to throw them towards another
group.
Unit Title: Working together to create a productive system
Anticipatory Students will show one picture
Set from the book Separate is
Never Equal. This picture will
have white children swimming
in a pool and the Latinx are not
allowed to come in the gate
and swim.
The teacher will give the
students some time to analyze
the picture and try to point out
certain things that they notice.
The students will then discuss
as a whole class what they have
discovered and believe is
happening in the picture.
Purpose The purpose of the lesson is to
practice finding the main ideas
in stories and use problem-
solving skills to figure out new
words they don’t understand.
I can read stories to discover
new words and investigate
main ideas.
Lesson The students will gather around
Presentation the carpet to listen to the book
being read aloud. The students
will be writing down words that
they don’t know from the book
during this time as well.
Students will be placed in
groups of three and given time
expected to listen and participate
in group discussion.
Each student will receive supplies
to make a map of places they like
to go in the town they live in.
They will put people they see,
places they might see along the
way, etc.
A few students will have time to
share some of their maps with
the rest of the class.
The purpose of the lesson is to
show the students different roles
that are in the community and
some characteristics of being a
productive citizen. The students
should also learn that they can
make a difference in their
community as well.
I can make a difference in my
community.
Students will be placed into four
groups and placed at one poster
around the room. There is a video
to go along with each poster that
they can watch, and they will
write as many characteristics that
they can think of at each poster.
They will have 2 minutes at each
poster and then rotate
Name: Corinne Walker
participate as a class for the
closure.
Students will play the game “This or
That.” There will be tape splitting
down the middle of the classroom.
The students will go to whichever
side of the room correlates with
their answer to the question.
The purpose of this lesson is to
teach students about the different
hemispheres and the polls. This will
eventually help students identify
locations on a map.
I can use a map to understand
where my country is.
The teacher will have a
presentation for the students
before beginning the activities.
The students will be split up into
groups of 4 or 5. The students will
have a map and put the continents
into the northern and southern
hemispheres. The students will then
The students will utilize desk and
table space. They will be expected to
try their best and be creative on the
posters. They should be encouraging
to other students’ work.
Students will be making paper from
water and paper scraps. They will
put a window screen into the water,
put a washrag onto the paper, use a
sponge to get as much water out,
and then put it on a plastic plate to
dry.
The purpose of this lesson is to teach
students the importance of taking
care of the planet. This lesson will
teach students how we can reduce,
reuse, and recycle.
I can help my environment by
reducing, reusing, and recycling.
The teacher will have many
examples of renewable and
nonrenewable items. The students
will use this time to discuss with one
another what the differences are.
They will also come up with ways to
reduce our amount of waste.
The students will shoot the balls that
Unit Title: Working together to create a productive system
to discuss words they might not
have known.
The class will have a group
discussion about the book and
what the main idea is.
Closure or The students will, “solve the
Conclusion case,” by taking pictures that
were printed off from the story
and placing them in categories
that say, “social injustice, or
fight against social injustice.”
Then the class will have a group
discussion.
Formative The teacher will be walking
Assessment around and listening to the
groups discuss different words
and the main idea of the story.
Adaptations See Lesson plan:
Summative The students will be given a
Assessment scenario that is correlated with
(as needed) the book. They will be given
time to think through the
problem and write about it.
Scenario: “Sylvia could not go
to the Westminster school. Why
do you think she didn’t just go
to the Mexican school like the
people had told her to?”
Taking [Understand, Assess, Act]
counterclockwise.
The students will each go to a
piece of paper that is scattered
across the room. They will read
the scenario on the paper and
then answer the question.
The student will gather at their
desks for class discussion and talk
about what they discovered in
the activities.
The students will each get a piece
of construction paper to write on.
They will make a poster of a goal
that they have to help their
community.
The teacher will collect each
poster for the group activity and
look at some of the answers that
the students wrote down. Based
on their responses, the teacher
will have a better understanding
of how the lesson is going.
See Lesson plan:
The students will be sent home a
worksheet (see lesson plan) that
has “I want to make an impact on
the community by...” The
students will have an area to say
what role they want to have in
the community as well.
Name: Corinne Walker
play a game to see if they got the
answers right.
Hemisphere Game
The students will follow the
directions of the teacher and paint
the different hemispheres on a
paper plate (see lesson plan).
The board will be split into
hemispheres. Each hemisphere will
have an object. For example, pizza.
The students will tell the teacher
which hemisphere to place magnets
that have words on them. The
words will be things such as cheese,
blueberries, etc.
The teacher will listen to group
discussions and their reasoning for
making discissions in this lesson.
Based on their conversations the
teacher can adjust the lesson.
See Lesson plan:
The students will be given cutout
pieces of paper with the
hemispheres and the polls on it.
The students will move around the
words on their desk to place them
in the correct location.
have the names of different
resources on them, into the correct
bin that the resource going into.
The students will create posters that
say “I recycle because…” They can be
as creative as they want to be on the
poster.
The students will hang their posters
in the hallway with tape.
The class with have a group
discussion over the importance of
reducing, reusing, and recycling.
The teacher will ask questions
frequently throughout the lesson
about the content.
See Lesson plan:
The students will receive materials to
complete a worksheet at home. They
will cut out items/resources and glue
them into the correct boxes that say
“renewable and nonrenewable.”
Unit Title: Working together to create a productive system Name: Corinne Walker
Informed Understand: What roles are needed to make a school system work?
Action Assess: The students will report back to their peers what they learned from researching a job in the school. They will discuss each other’s findings
and learn about other jobs as well.
Act: The students will job shadow a person in the school and learn about the work that goes into the school system. They will ask the employee
questions about their job and they can also help with some of their tasks.